The 18th Annual Survey of Third-Party Logistics Providers, released at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals Annual Global Conference yesterday, contained some encouraging news.

Authored by Dr. Robert Lieb, Professor of Supply Chain Management at Northeastern University and Joe Gallick, Senior Vice President of Sales for Penske Logistics, the findings analyze responses from 36 third-party logistics company CEOs across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific whose companies were responsible for generating approximately $58 billion in revenue in 2010.

Key findings of the survey include:

*Logistics companies experienced improved economic conditions in 2010, with 88 percent of companies surveyed in North America meeting or exceeding their revenue projections, as compared with only 50 percent in 2009.

*In Europe, economic conditions continued to be challenging for third-party logistics companies with only 55 percent of companies surveyed meeting or exceeding their revenue growth projections for the year, as opposed to 90 percent of companies surveyed in Asia-Pacific.

*Growth projections are most optimistic in Asia, with companies expecting to grow 15.8 percent in the next year, as compared to 10.8 percent expected in North America and 8.4 percent in Europe.

*25 percent of the North American 3PL CEOs reported that some of their customers had experienced a loss of sales in Japan, due to the tsunami and earthquake in the region. Thirteen percent of the European CEOs reported similar experiences, as did 50 percent of the CEOS surveyed in the APAC region.

*Sixteen of the 36 CEOs reported their companies launched new sustainability initiatives during 2010.

This reflects a great many remarks made to LM recently about the resiliency of the logistics industry. Despite the macro-economic downturns and sluggish recovery in the U.S. sector, supply chains continue to churn and head on a promising path.

October 7, 2011

About the Author

Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor

Patrick Burnson is executive editor for Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review magazines and web sites. Patrick is a widely-published writer and editor who has spent most of his career covering international trade, global logistics, and supply chain management. He lives and works in San Francisco, providing readers with a Pacific Rim perspective on industry trends and forecasts. You can reach him directly at [email protected]

While Amazon’s recent bid to purchase Whole Foods made mainstream headlines, the e-commerce giant will still need to adhere to time-tested realities. Any way you slice it, the integrated U.S. cold chain requires optimized service from existing ports, 3PLs, cold storage warehousing, transportation providers and high-value vendors.